Browsing: New York Rangers

Transcripts from Friday night’s conference calls with Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and newest Ranger Jimmy Vesey: Jeff Gorton: On what selling-point tilted Vesey’s decision: “It’s hard to say it’s just one. I think that, when he looked at the Rangers, he looked at a lot of things. I think we…

The Rangers were the last team standing in a four-day contest of hype and hope, as they were “chosen” Friday by free-agent winger Jimmy Vesey, the Hobey Baker Award winner from Harvard. Vesey, 23, a third-round draft pick of Nashville in 2012, did not sign with the Predators, had his…

Peter Fish, the agent for Jimmy Vesey, said his much-hyped free-agent client would not make his decision Thursday, according to reports. I suspect Vesey, a winger and Hobey Baker winner from Harvard who was originally drafted but unsigned by Nashville, will announce his decision Friday. According to many reports he has…

I want to welcome to Rangers Report all the readers of the great Andrew Gross’s Ranger Rants blog, which is shut down now that Andrew has moved over to cover the Devils for the Record. In case you missed it, Andrew wrote about the change yesterday. You can read it…

Let the games begin. No, not those games. Back from a short vacation today, the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes begin at midnight. The Harvard winger and former Nashville draft pick officially becomes a free agent today. Vesey, 23, is in that odd situation where money most certainly will not be the determining…

Emile Francis and the Metropolitan Hockey League By George Grimm On Dec. 17, 2015 Emile Francis was presented with the Wayne Gretzky International Award at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Boston. The award, which was established by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, is…

Reminiscing with Sal Messina By George Grimm In 1973 Sal Messina became the color analyst on Rangers radio broadcasts working with play-by-play man Marv Albert. It was the natural progression for the Queens native who had been involved in hockey and the Blueshirts for most of his life. Sal grew…

The Night The Boomer went Ballistic! By George Grimm It may have been five days before Christmas, but “Peace on earth and good will toward men” was the last thing on minds of the Rangers and Canadiens when they met at the Garden on Sunday night Dec. 20, 1953. The…

Here today is the first of several guest blog posts from our always-popular volunteer contributor George Grimm, who is writing a book on Emile Francis. It’s August and we still have two months to go before the NHL season (though we will have World Cup hockey in September this year).…

Before we get to our new guest blogger, some news the last couple of days. The Rangers have signed defense prospect Sergey Zborovskiy to an entry-level deal. The kid’s just 19, and he looked pretty good at the prospects camp last month — cleared some bodies around the crease, among…

Is Vegas Right? By Michael Aker While all 30 general managers and scouting departments are placing the finishing touches on their rosters for 2016-17, personnel decisions this summer and next will be impacted following the announcement of a franchise being awarded to Las Vegas and beginning operation for the 2017-18…

The Rangers now have all their big-league roster players under contract for the 2016-17 season, after signing both Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes on Friday Kreider, 25, was headed to salary arbitration Friday, before signing a four-year deal with an annual cap hit of $4,625 million. Hayes, 24, had an…

Per Aaron Ward, Chris Kreider’s camp submitted a $4.75 million salary number heading into Friday’s scheduled arbitration hearing, while Rangers GM Jeff Gorton offered $3.2 million. I think this will get done prior to the hearing, with the Rangers looking to lock up some of Kreider’s unrestricted free agency years…

It’s a bit short of a blockbuster, but Rangers GM Jeff Gorton made a very significant trade Monday, dealing one of his top two centers, leading goal-scorer and second-leading point getter. Gorton traded Derick Brassard, 28, and seventh-round draft pick in 2018 to Ottawa for center Mika Zibanejad, 23, and…

Big deal alert: The Rangers traded center Derick Brassard, 28, and a seventh-round draft pick in 2018 to Ottawa for center Mika Zibanejad, 23, and a second-rounder in 2018. Gotta believe this is the precursor to other moves. The Rangers get instant cap relief, sending Brassard’s $5 million per year cap hit,…

The Familiar History of Alain Vigneault By Jeff Yerger Alain Vigneault, head coach of the New York Rangers, is a man with many accolades to his name. He is a player-friendly, offensive-minded head coach who is good with the media and even better at chewing gum. As head coach of…

Two down, two to go. The Rangers signed the second of their four arbitration-bound restricted free agents Friday when they agreed to a one-year, $800,000 contract with defenseman Dylan McIlrath But, the fact that McIlrath is signed doesn’t necessarily signal a change in his status with coach Alain Vigneault, who…

The Rangers got one of their four arbitration-bound restricted free agents signed Wednesday, locking up winger J.T. Miller for two years at a reported $2.75 million per. Miller will still not be eligible for unrestricted free agency until the summer after this deal expires. Restricted free agents Chris Kreider (arbitration…

Ranger Ramblings by Joey #27 Ok, now that the dust has settled a bit from the July 1st “Free Agent Frenzy” and some pretty “earth shattering” deals, my thoughts and grades: NEW YORK RANGERS (C-): I know, I know that “ol Gordo” has some major shackles on him, and the…

I know a lot of us have shared plenty of emotion, and some stories, about Tony from AZ, a great, humorous, loyal member of our blog community who passed away last weekend. His daughter forwarded this story. Thank you, Jennifer. By Jennifer Caminiti On July 3, 2016, the world lost a…